Kolkata Gangrape: TMC leaders make controversial statements; party distances itself from them

NEW DELHI: A day after Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's controversial remark on the gang rape of a law student, senior party leader and MLA Madan Mitra on Saturday said that the incident would not have happened had the student taken a couple of friends with her or informed people before going there. "This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don't go, nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn't have happened," Mitra said.

"If she had informed someone before going or had taken a couple of friends with her, then this wouldn't have happened. The one who committed this dirty deed took advantage of the situation," he said. On Friday Banerjee said, "If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? Will the police be there in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect her (victim)?" The TMC distanced itself from the comments of the two leaders and termed them as their personal statements.

MLA Madan Mitra claims misrepresentation

"The remarks made by MP Kalyan Banerjee and MLA Madan Mitra concerning the heinous crime at South Calcutta Law College were made in their personal capacities. The party unequivocally dissociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same. These views do not reflect the position of the party in any manner whatsoever," it posted on X. Immediately, Banerjee, the Serampore MP questioned whether the party was "indirectly supporting" those leaders who were "shielding the criminals".

He also distanced himself from the party's statement. "I completely disagree with the post made by AITCofficial on X. Are they indirectly supporting the leaders who are shielding these criminals? Mere academic statements won't bring any real change unless immediate action is taken against those leaders directly responsible... I also wish to clearly distance myself from those who are encouraging or protecting these criminals," Banerjee stated on X. Mitra also took to X, saying that his statements were "misled by a motivated group" to malign him. "...my statement has been totally misled and misused by a motivated group whose basic intention was to malign the image of our party AITC by wrongly focusing my statement to serve their own purpose," he said.